1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2012  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/05/2012   
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Government Finance

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS

Table 28.11 provides an international comparison of OECD countries' general government net financial liabilities as a percentage of nominal GDP. The Australian GDP data are on a 2008 System of National Accounts (2008 SNA) basis while other countries are on a 1993 SNA basis. The table provides an indication of the countries' relative financial positions.

Net financial liabilities measures the gross financial liabilities of the general government sector less the financial assets of the general government sector. Depending on the institutional structure of the country concerned and data availability, such assets may be cash, bank deposits, loans to the private sector, participation in private sector companies, holdings in public corporations or foreign exchange reserves. If a country's general government records a negative percentage for its net financial liabilities as a percentage of nominal GDP, its financial assets are greater than its financial liabilities.

Australia's general government net financial liabilities increased to 1.8% of GDP in 2010, ranking Australia 10th lowest out of the 30 countries represented, a drop from 9th in 2009.

28.11 GENERAL GOVERNMENT NET FINANCIAL LIABILITIES, Percentage of nominal GDP

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

Australia
–4.7
–7.3
–7.6
–3.8
1.8
Austria
33.9
30.8
33.6
38.6
44.0
Belgium(a)
77.2
73.3
73.9
80.1
80.8
Canada
26.3
22.9
22.4
28.4
30.4
Czech Republic
–11.7
–14.2
–6.0
–1.8
3.7
Denmark
1.9
–3.8
–6.6
–4.6
–1.1
Estonia
–31.4
–29.6
–26.2
–29.1
–35.2
Finland(b)
–69.4
–72.6
–52.4
–63.2
–63.9
France
37.2
34.8
42.7
49.3
56.6
Germany(c)
47.4
42.2
43.9
47.9
50.1
Greece
86.1
80.4
88.9
100.5
114.2
Hungary
51.2
52.3
51.4
58.5
60.6
Iceland
7.9
–1.0
26.0
39.9
43.1
Ireland
1.5
–0.2
12.5
26.8
59.1
Italy
90.7
87.1
89.9
100.5
99.1
Japan(d)
84.3
81.5
96.5
110.0
116.3
Korea, Republic of (South)(e)
–37.0
–40.4
–37.9
–38.4
–37.3
Luxembourg
–44.7
–44.1
–44.7
–45.6
–40.0
Netherlands
31.6
27.9
26.8
29.9
34.6
New Zealand
–8.1
–13.1
–12.6
–8.9
–4.5
Norway
–135.2
–141.6
–126.4
–156.0
–165.9
Poland
22.4
17.0
17.3
22.5
28.7
Portugal
50.1
49.6
54.0
64.3
68.8
Slovakia
6.4
7.3
8.9
17.2
20.4
Slovenia
–9.9
–17.6
–5.7
0.1
7.2
Spain
23.2
18.7
23.3
34.8
40.2
Sweden
–18.9
–22.5
–16.6
–24.4
–26.1
Switzerland
5.5
1.0
2.8
1.7
1.2
United Kingdom
27.5
28.5
33.0
44.0
56.3
United States of America
41.7
42.6
48.2
59.8
67.3
Euro area
46.6
42.5
46.6
53.6
57.5
Total OECD
40.0
38.2
43.5
52.1
57.7

Note: Net debt measures are not always comparable across countries due to different definitions or treatment of debt (and asset) components. First, the treatment of government liabilities with respect to their employee pension plans may be different. For further details see OECD Economic Outlook Sources. Second, the range of items included as general government assets differs across countries. For example, equity holdings are excluded from government assets in some countries, whereas foreign exchange, gold and SDR holdings are considered as assets in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. For details, see OECD Economic Outlook Sources and Methods. For euro area countries with unsustainable fiscal positions that have asked for assistance from the European Union and the IMF (Greece, Ireland and Portugal), the change in 2010 in government financial liabilities has been approximated by the change in government liabilities recorded for the Maastricht definition of general government debt.
(a) Includes the debt of the Belgium National Railways Company (SNCB) from 2005 onwards.
(b) From 1995 onwards housing corporation shares are no longer classified as financial assets.
(c) Includes the debt of the Inherited Debt Fund from 1995 onwards.
(d) Includes the debt of the Japan Railway Settlement Corporation and the National Forest Special Account from 1998 onwards.
(e) Data are on a non-consolidated basis (1993 SNA).
Source: OECD Economic Outlook 89 database, Annex Table 33.

 

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Statistics contained in the Year Book are the most recent available at the time of preparation. In many cases, the ABS website and the websites of other organisations provide access to more recent data. Each Year Book table or graph and the bibliography at the end of each chapter provides hyperlinks to the most up to date data release where available.